“Vice President Trump” was briefly trending on “X” Thursday, which is… well, funny, for one thing.
The implication, obviously, is that Elon Musk is America’s de facto head of state. That the joke was trending on the social media platform Musk controls suggests he wasn’t upset about the notion.
Musk, who’s all set to run a new agency tasked with trimming federal payrolls under the guise of “efficiency,” has inserted himself into the US government funding debate over the last 48 hours, insisting, across dozens of posts on “X,” that the GOP kill a bipartisan spending bill that would’ve averted a government shutdown during the holidays. Donald Trump, upstaged, endorsed Musk’s sentiments, likening the spending deal to treason, an absurdist claim indicative of countless farces to come.
Both Musk and Trump threatened Republicans who supported the original deal with political repercussions, including backing primary challengers. Subsequently, Republicans managed to cobble together a plan that appeased Trump, but it failed in the House on a first try, with more than three-dozen GOPers breaking rank to vote against the revamped measure.
Between them, Musk and Trump called the first bill — which, again, would’ve ensured the US government doesn’t shut down over Christmas — a “betrayal,” “criminal” and an act of theft against taxpayers. Musk went even further, suggesting Congress shouldn’t act on anything at all (“No bills.” “None.”) until Trump officially takes office next month.
In an interview with Fox, Trump issued a mob-style threat to Mike Johnson. “If the speaker acts decisively and gets rid of all of the traps being set by the Democrats… he will easily remain speaker,” Trump said. Put differently: “Nice gavel you got there, Mike. Shame if something happened to it.”
After the Trump-backed bill failed, Johnson said the caucus would “regroup and come up with another solution.” Musk faulted Democrats for killing what he described as “a simple bill.”
By Thursday, the shutdown melee morphed into a referendum on the debt ceiling, which Trump says he wants abolished. “I support that entirely,” he told NBC. I do too, frankly, and I don’t so much care whether Trump’s advocacy is self-serving (which it plainly is). The US debt ceiling is the single-most asinine fiscal gimmick in the known universe, bar none, and if it takes Trump to get rid of it, then at least he accomplished one good thing, even if he uses the accompanying latitude for ill.
Amid the cacophony, the idea of Musk becoming House speaker was floated in some corners, a suggestion which is only surprising if you’re still in denial about what’s going on right in front of your eyes. (And a lot of Americans are in just such a state of denial.)
“The Speaker of the House need not be a member of Congress,” famous idiot Rand Paul reminded Americans on “X.” “Nothing would disrupt the swamp more than electing Elon Musk,” he went on. “Think about it… nothing’s impossible.” Paul suggested he’d delight in seeing “the collective establishment lose their ever-lovin’ minds.”
Let’s be clear: The only people who’ve lost “their ever-lovin’ minds” are the people suggesting the solution to what, in essence, is a government capture problem in America, is giving the richest man on the planet who runs half a dozen companies, including several which benefit from government contracts and incentives, even more sway in D.C. than he’s already managed to seize.
Senator Mike Lee, whose “X” avatar is a red-tinted picture of himself with blue laser eyes, posted several messages advocating for Musk as House speaker, referring to centrist Democrats and Republicans as “The Firm,” an effort to perpetuate the notion that the US government’s run by a cabal of nefarious conspirators hell-bent on kleptocracy.
Lee’s not exactly wrong on that, but he misses a key point: Trump and Musk are in the process of setting up an out-in-the-open kleptocratic oligarchy so brazen it’d make the Kremlin blush. If that’s the solution, it’s worse than the problem and immeasurably so.
Trump was characteristically short on specifics while explaining what, exactly, was wrong with the bipartisan funding deal, saying only that it would’ve “destroy[ed] our country economically and in other ways.” For his part, Musk carried on endlessly about the allegedly disastrous nature of what was otherwise viewed as an innocuous compromise designed to ensure Americans could celebrate Christmas unburdened by Beltway drama.
It’s difficult to escape the suspicion that this is just another gamified flex for Elon — like manipulating DOGE (the coin, not the agency named after it), or turning Twitter into “red pill” wonderland. The richest man in the history of the world is now bent on the puppetization of the US government, and this episode — holding the American public hostage at Christmas in lieu of deliberately unspecific demands — is just a preview of what’s coming.
Coming full circle, there’s no point mincing words: Musk’s usurpation of the US government is ongoing and it’s quite unnerving. If my emotions weren’t permanently anesthetized, I’d call it frightening.
“Billionaires must not be allowed to run our government,” Bernie Sanders exhorted. “Will Republicans kiss the ring?” They already do, Bernie. And they already have.
Former (and soon to be former) Republican Speakers of the House are going to need years of therapy and may need to form their own support group or they’ll be sitting in their rocking chairs muttering to themselves in old age after all Trump and his clown car have put them through. This governing thing is hard when you have to be the adult in the room.
I’d love to see Republicans rip the band aid off and show the country what happens when you put Musk in charge. I’m all for electing him as speaker at this point since the country obviously gave President Mump an overwhelming mandate with their whopping 1% margin of victory.
“Trump and Musk are in the process of setting up an out-in-the-open kleptocratic oligarchy so brazen it’d make the Kremlin blush.”?
I’ve long thought, and occasionally expressed the opinion, half-seriously, that the US Congress in cahoots with the Trump Organization is the largest racketeering organization ever devised, and ought to be prosecuted under RICO. Now, with TRUSK calling the shots, it appears half-serious is a too-restrained opinion, with a son Michael taking up the reins from Don Vito
At least Musk’s a lot smarter than Trump, if no more an adult in the room…but that could be like saying that at least Putin has ICBMs that can be more precisely targeted, in order to limit collateral damage…
The trouble with judicial options like RICO is that it’s too late. We just we sat by and watched Trump and MaGoo install all his MAGA judges.
Shutting down the government, especially at Christmas, will not be good headlines. I wonder if TruMusk are focused on their inside-Beltway power maneuvering and taking their eye off the public opinion ball and/or are mistaking the FoX echo chamber for the latter.
This sounds a little bit like Chomsky’s articulation of privatization: defund something so that it stop working well thus creating the preconditions and policy window for a “solution” and then auction it off. A government stuck in shut-down seems like the perfect set up to start hacking off agencies or gutting them. Then the private sector can start sucking our tax money out of the carcass of the federal government. Cue Musk’s seventh company.
privatization = transfer of state wealth to the American oligarchy. This is the real goal of Trump and his buddies.
Very timely, sir. This morning I noticed that sentiment bubbling up in the comments about news articles about the sudden impass. Things like “I voted for Trump, not Musk
Some even suggested that DJT will be happy to leave the annoying day’to-day stuff to Elon so he can be freed up to play golf and issue
vernight pronouncements.
I’m old school and first thing this morning I called my representative, a Republican, asking when in the hell was Elon Musk elected president? Of course I might as well just stepped outside and yell it to the sky. This is what we get with a public more interested in the next show to watch or what influencer is hot.
Yell it to a drone, you mean.
This had me laughing John.
I have an old drone that I haven’t flown in probably 5 years. I’m tempted to dust it off and just have it hover over my neighbors’ house. He’s on our local city council, and the freakout would be hilarious.
Ive never seen a drone over my house (but I’ve never held a position of civic authority higher than volunteer president of local business chamber). But should they start to appear, i might have to see if i still have skill with the Wrist Rocket of my Reckless Youth…
Be sure to use some nice, heavy ball bearings for maximum impact.
I will say the pay raise for House members included in the bill was egregious.
Debt ceiling is used by Reps against Dems more than it is used by Dems against Reps, so tactically Dems should withhold votes until it is permanently done away with – but, also tactically, should require the deed be done on Trump’s watch.
+1
Trump said the quiet part out loud on this issue in a recent interview with Fox. He very much wants Biden to have to be the one to raise/remove the debt ceiling so that he (Trump) doesn’t have to take any negative publicity hit.
FWIW, I updated this article with the failed House vote on the Trump-backed measure.
38 defectors on Trump’s first budget bill? It sure didn’t take long for his overwhelming mandate to evaporate. You hate to see it 🙂 I just hope he’s as miserable as all the people he’ll be furloughing and takes it out on Musk.
The President Musk and headwaiter Trump memes, as assisted by AI, are funny. We know Trump has a great sense of humor.
“They have started to call him beta Trump.” Some talking head on msnbc
That head is going to get sued!
Oh the irony, a man who should have been president and who warned us ad nauseam about the danger of morally corrupt billionaires not being held accountable now has to tell us that these people shouldn’t be running the government he should have been president of so he could have held them accountable.
Reminder: drinking heavily will not sedate you enough to be able ignore the hellscape the United States is about to become. It’ll just make you more miserable.
It will be calls of “President Musk” that ultimately ruins their bromance. Musk doesn’t exactly have a lot of skill or experience with managing the fragile ego of a narcissist.
I think you’re right about Musk’s motivations–that he’s just doing this all for his own entertainment. When you make up in the morning as the richest person on Earth and number two isn’t even close, I’m sure it leads to some existential question asking. What is there left to do? Musk’s answer was apparently to buy the presidency. He started by jumping on the DeSantis train during the brief moment when DeSantis was ahead in the polls for like a whole 5 minutes. When DeSantis spectacularly flamed out, Musk just shifted his aim and reloaded. When it gets old, he’ll move along to the next fun thing.
Trump on the other hand has more specific motives. For one thing, he needed Musk’s clout and cash to ensure an election victory. Musk delivered, and Trump, transactional as ever, will continue to deliver the reward so long as it remains convenient.
There’s one thing that could keep their relationship going strong a bit longer: I have a suspicion that Trump has one other thing he wants from Musk… Trump’s stake in Truth Social is worth about $4 billion. Meanwhile, revenue at TMTG barely broke the $1 million mark last quarter. At some point, Trump might well welcome Musk buying out Truth Social just like he bought Twitter. Of course, Musk would have to raise the cash somehow, but I’m sure the Saudis would be good for a bridge loan.
Each has effective weapons vs the other. Trump can use govt against TSLA and SpaceX. Musk can use X to stall Rep legislation. Logically, you’d think they should suppress the egos and find a way to work together. But those are sizeable egos.
In today’s news, our President endorsed the far-right party in Germany’s upcoming election:
Elon Musk raised alarm by endorsing Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), which has called for the nation to leave the European Union.
The tech billionaire and Donald Trump adviser commented on an X post by far-right influencer Naomi Seibt, who had criticized German politician Friedrich Merz, saying the potential next chancellor was “horrified by the idea that Germany should follow Elon Musk’s and [Argentina President] Javier Milei’s example,” and Musk replied with a brief endorsement.
“Only the AfD can save Germany,” Musk posted at 1:03 a.m.
There is NO mention of this on Fox News yet. In their defense, it was last night, right?
One ball the new “rat pack” has lost sight of. Musk can’t ever be President. He was not born in the US. He can’t be Speaker for the same reason. The Presidential Constitutional succession is Pres, VP, Speaker. He also cannon be granted any position that can create an actual law. Trump will have to sign anything Musk does and that will always put T’s butt on the line. Besides Trump will have to overcome Musk’s security clearance issues. He can’t be on the Security Council, I suspect.
Yeah, but Musk can strong arm any Rep who doesn’t bend to his will using his platform and infinite money. It doesn’t take much to flip a congressional seat, and given Trump’s age and physical condition, Musk is effectively setting himself up to take control of the Republican party as well as all the far right parties across the world. To H’s point, Musk’s heel turn should frighten us as he isn’t afraid to embrace far right parties as Derek alluded to above and he has unlimited resources to put his plans into action.
I’d be very curious to see what the dynamic is like between Musk and his old pal, Thiel, these days. I wouldn’t be surprised if Thiel turns out to be a modern day J. Edgar Hoover.
The Thiel link is doubly interesting since JD Vance is his stalking horse. Those guys are setting the table.
So what are the historical periods that most remind you of today? The 1930s, of course. Or the late 1920s. When were the industrial barons at their height?
“The number of people who are super talented engineers AND super motivated in the USA is far too low,” Musk wrote. “Think of this like a pro sports team: if you want your TEAM to win the championship, you need to recruit top talent wherever they may be. That enables the whole TEAM to win.”
MAGA in turmoil. Elon and Vivek want more dark-skinned Indian and, God forbid, Chinese types, into the US. To replace chronically lazy US workers!
The X war between Musk and Lara Loomer is hilarious.